1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a combined seat and cutting board apparatus which is mountable on a standard plastic or metal bucket.
2. Description of Related Art
The prior art reveals a few attempts to combine a seat with a bucket for the purpose of providing a fisherman with a chair. Unfortunately, the structure of most prior art devices is relatively complicated and frequently limited to specific applications. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,680 describes a portable bucket seat that fits on the open end of a standard bucket of the type commonly used by fishermen. The seat appears to cover the entire opening of the surface of the bucket and includes a reel portion on the bottom thereof which accepts a coiled up rope. The purpose of that invention is to combine the seat with a safety buoy so that the seat can be thrown to an individual who may have fallen overboard while the person in the boat retains the free end in the boat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,340 entitled, "Fishing Seat, Rod Holder and Pail" discloses another device which fits over a common fisherman's bucket. The device is adapted to hold a fishing rod, if desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,587 discloses a Seat Structure in which the seat sits over a conventional fishing bucket. In that case, the seat looks very much like a regular stool and the footprint of the seat virtually covers the entire opening of the bucket.
The following patents also disclose bucket seats, but appear to be of a lesser relevance: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,919,169; 4,106,811; and 4,228,894.
While the forgoing indicate that there is some limited prior art directed toward the concept of placing a seat on a common fisherman's pail, there appears to be several major shortcomings. First, the seats tend to effectively eclipse the entire opening of the bucket thereby making it hard to use the bucket for catching scraps or for retrieving bait while still seated. Second, the structures are relatively complex and therefore difficult to keep clean. Third, many of them include raised portions that increase their tendency to tip off the bucket if a fisherman places his weight on the seat in an in an inappropriate fashion. And, fourth, because the structures of the prior art are relatively involved, they are believed to be moderately expensive to manufacture. The present invention is able to overcome all of the shortcomings of the prior art in a very novel fashion.